Resident Evil: Project Y redux
by Mavrick
Summary: Lone gunmen hopes to save his country and possibly the world. But not everything is how it seems.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own Resident Evil they and the better half of the characters and story belong to CAPCOM.  
  
Note, AU story, the general idea is the same however, Raccoon City didn't go down exactly the same way. Yes it was nuked, however, in a prequel which will one day be done, the U.S. Military did more than just send in a special forces team and block off the city.   
  
A/N, this is an a beta version, depending on how this is received, I'll make some tweaks to the later parts. Depending on the comments and how they feel about the characters and such. Either way, enjoy. Also, reviews are appreciated and if you flame, please make sure to include why it sucks hard, emphasis on the sucks hard part, alrighty then?  
  
RESIDENT EVIL: Project Y  
  
December 29th 2000  
  
The moon lit up the ground nicely, white powdery snow blanketed most of the ground, the wind was mostly tranquil, but the air was bitter cold the stars could be seen brightly, and the sound of a helicopter could be heard in the air. The helicopter ride was bumpy and long, Hawk seemed to bounce back and forth, as the tiny aircraft continually shook. Hawk was just less than six feet tall, his eyes were a light blue, his hair sandy blonde, Hawk was slim, and he had some muscle and he had a lot of agility.  
  
Hawk was nervous, his brow had little beads of sweat it seemed to have gotten hot inside. Hawk knew then wiped away the sweat, he stood up and tried to shake of the feeling. Hawk then looked up at the pilot who was already looking back at him, the man smiled politely and turned his attention back to what was in front of him, twelve hours left before an incident that could turn America into a disaster area.   
  
It was very odd, the feelings Hawk had. He remembered when he'd left there was no real feeling of concern, or fear, not much anyway, but as time went on, he'd grown nervous, he was scared, scared of what might happen. Hawk looked down on the ground of Alaska, to him, a wasteland by all means, nothing out there, nothing around him, he was in the middle of nowhere. He then looked ahead peering into the bleak darkness, regretting the situation. Hawk then looked up front into the helicopter, when the man signaled it was time for him to jump. Hawk then looked out into the darkness once more, and could see lights on inside a building, not to far ahead. He checked his gear once more, and then opened the door, he took a deep breath, and closed his eyes tightly, and he then began counting back from five. He stopped at three and jumped.   
  
He was falling quickly down to the ground, there was a quick rush, and he felt a bit strange. He silently counted to himself until he pulled out his parachute. Instantly he was yanked back, and felt an immediate slowdown. Slowly Hawk glided to the ground. As he came down and touched the ground he could hear the crunching under his feet of the white snow.  
  
Hawk looked up ahead and could see the massive building, a lab actually, probably ten stories high. Lights were on in some windows; he could even see people moving by them.   
  
"This is perfect." Hawk mumbled, and then started off to the facility in a light sprint. Hawk ran quickly through the area trying to find an entrance. Cameras were all looking over the area, Hawk moved cautiously and quickly, with all the light out anyone could easily see him. As Hawk surveyed it all, he could see no sentries patrolling the outside, which was odd.   
  
Hawk didn't focus on that too much longer, he just studied the area closely, the best way in seemed to be through a window and from there he could get to the stairs easily. Hawk then got to the side of the lab and crouched low and he reached into his pocket, and grabbed a tiny locket; he squeezed it and made a light prayer.  
  
Hawk thought for a second exactly why he was here. Details were sketchy but he knew the following.  
  
Four hours ago, this military research outpost, occupied by United States scientist was seized and taken over by a group called Red Faction, Hawk knew the leader as Karl Silverman, a known terrorist thought to have some connection with the 1999 U.S. Embassy bombings down in England and France. Karl's demands were simple, thirty billion dollars and the withdrawing of U.S. troops over in Korea, the consequences for not following the demands would be a missile launch on the West Coast of the United States. This struck everyone as odd. Why Korea? They'd done all research in the world and could find nothing that would even suggest Karl had ties to the place.  
  
Hawk didn't place too much concern in that area, all he cared about were orders. Orders were also simple. First and foremost, he was ordered to go and find out if they had any hostages and ifso, find a way to get them out. Second, he had to see if the possibility of a missile strike was possible, and if so destroy it. He was also being ordered to recover information from the computer in Lab 2 on floor five in the north end of the complex for reasons unknown to Hawk. His only communication was via a tiny receiver in his ear, he could only talk to one man, Colonel Todd Marshall, head of the operation.  
  
Hawk carefully, took out three plugs from his vest. He then placed them on the window followed by a forth, he then hit the forth one and the glass shattered into tiny pieces.   
  
"What the hell was that?" Hawk heard a man cry and slowly came to investigate, Hawk then quickly came in through the window and ducked into a nearby closet. He could hear the guard as he stepped on the glass; "What the hell?" he asked and then Hawk could hear the static sound of the radio and heard the man speak. "Sir we may have an intruder breach, I've found a possible entrance by the northern hall on the first floor."  
  
"I'll send a team down immediately." the man over the radio replied. Both men sounded American.  
  
Hawk took a deep breath, hopefully the closet wouldn't be checked, and maybe he'd get lucky.  
  
Moments past by when the guards finally came, Hawk's heart rate seemed to jump, he panicked as he listened out, both his adrenaline and breathing also went up, Hawk tried his best to remain silent. A few more moments passed by, they seemed to last forever. He was certain as he saw the squad peering around, someone would hear the breathing, and pull him out.   
  
"Hey!" one of them then said.  
  
"What is it?"   
  
"What about the closet?" Hawk's heart began to pound. He felt his legs buckle and breathing suddenly became that much harder. The soldier moved towards Hawk position. And Hawk tried to prepare to burst out and try and disarm the first one and then take out the second one.   
  
"Are you crazy?" the other spoke up.  
  
"What?" "Only a dumbass would hide in there." "They want a thourough search." The guard in front of Hawk then said. "Fuck that, it's a fucking waste, now that I think of it, it's probably one of those assholes trying to add a little excitement to the night." "You're that stupid?" "You don't think Mendoza would try?" The guard had to think. "Okay, you've got a point, but still."   
  
He then began to turn the handle, but stopped.  
  
"It's fucking cold, lets just go." "I'm just looking." the door then swung open. Hawk couldn't move, he was paralyzed with fear. There was no sound however Just as soon as it opened, it was then shut again. The man didn't even turn, and his friend had already left.  
  
"Nothing." he then called back. The sounds of footsteps then trailed off.   
  
"Well I'm about to die of a heart attack," Hawk said aloud as he fell back against the closet wall and slumped to the ground.  
  
He then opened the door and proceeded out only to quickly and swiftly step back inside as two more men on a sweep passed by.  
  
"Jesus," he then sighed, "It's a fucking party." he then waited as they got into a debate which lasted 15 minutes as to whom the best team in NFL history was. When they finally proceeded off, Hawk remained patient. When he poked his head out a third time, he could see another three coming though. None of them saw him, and Hawk taking advantage waited for all of the guards to walk off. It was nearly ten minutes before he tried again.  
  
"Random guard number 43?" He asked as he cracked the door open. Now the hallways were bare. Once he was confident he slowly stepped out, and began investigating his surroundings as he did he activated the link up.  
  
"I'm in." Hawk then whispered. "What's your status?" Todd asked.  
  
"I had a somewhat close call but I'm fine, security seems light, however, this may be a little harder than intelligence thought, but it's weird, there's no security patrolling the outside." "Don't worry about it Hawk, there's no time for that. Make sure you stay out of sight, you're the only hope we've got, you've only got 12 hours so hurry up."  
  
"Yes sir." Hawk replied and then ended the conversation.  
  
Todd was a strong principled man, very light hearted, and very dedicated to his job, and he was somewhat of an older brother to Hawk, always looking out for him. Hawk felt more relaxed knowing that it was Todd in charge of the mission.  
  
.   
  
Hawk carefully checked the area waiting for the first sign of trouble. Once he was certain that he could proceed, Hawk began to walk off. As he walked along the area he had a feeling of anxiety, this was all new to him, no longer just practice, but the real thing, these men would actually try to kill him, and he'd be trying to kill them. His thoughts seem to dwell on that for a few moments.  
  
Hawk found a stair well, and proceeded upward. According to the blueprints Lab one was on the third floor of this building, Hawk carefully and quickly climbed the stairs he made sure to make as little noise as possible.  
  
  
  
Elsewhere…  
  
Nicholai stared silently at Karl, he looked deep in thought, something that no longer surprised him, Kyle lightly sighed, and seemed to sneer in frustration, he then looked up at Nicholai, "How many do you think they sent?" he then asked looking up at the ceiling.  
  
Nicholai took a moment to process all he knew and then looked at Karl, maybe five, and that's pushing it, if I know Frank he's just sending in one, he thinks it is something we won't expect.  
  
"So you think Franks just sending in his best trained man, to take all this on?" Karl then questioned not taking his eyes away from the ceiling.  
  
"Yes." Nicholai said without hesitation, it's happened before, you remember Black Widow?"  
  
"Oh yes, she would be the one exception, but I don't think anyone else would be suited to actually deal with this and if I recall Widow just got lucky."  
  
"No she did not." Nicholai then said firmly, "in fact, we have reason to believe she may be in the base."   
  
"What?" Karl then looked at Nicholai surprised by the news.  
  
"Sir, we know it may be a long shot but about two hours ago, we found that there was an open vent leading inside this base." "No one saw this?" Karl asked irritated, his eyes now locked on Nicholai.  
  
"The guard on duty says that he didn't notice it at all until just an hour ago, but I can say that this is her style." Karl then stroked his chin a second and looked down, "Nicholai, I want tighter security, especially around Rolland and the bio lab, we can't afford to lose them."  
  
"Yes sir," Nicholai then saluted, and left the room.  
  
Karl then, sat down in a chair behind him, "So the U.S. wants to try and solve this the hard way huh?"  
  
Hawk was now on the third floor, it was a well-lit area, the floor was marble and bare, it had brown walls and the light seemed to be bouncing around.  
  
"Where should I go?" Hawk then asked himself, and looked around the small area to see where the lab was.  
  
It didn't take long to find the lab, the room labeled was in big bold letters on a gray door. Hawk walked up and noticed a tiny control panel, all doors on the base were electronically sealed, but the boys at HQ had prepared him. Hawk took out a small black object from his belt and opened up the control panel, he then hooked up the tiny machine to the panel, there was a slightly loud beeping sound.  
  
"Jeez!" Hawk whispered aloud and then went silent wondering for a moment if anyone had heard, he then felt a little bit lax, as no one seemed to come.  
  
The door then slowly slid open and Hawk walked in.   
  
The lab was almost pitch black, a little bit of light came in when the door opened but then as it shut behind him it went all dark. Hawk pressed his hand against the wall to see if a light switch was nearby, but couldn't find anything.  
  
Hawk stood still a moment as a slight sound could be heard, shuffling, Hawk looked to see where the sound came from yet he couldn't see in the dark, hawk then began to search one more and then smiled as he finally found it, Hawk then turned on the lights, and almost jumped back as a woman could be seen holding a gun at him, Hawk then shook his head, as he could see that she had on some goggles.  
  
"Not what I need." Hawk grumbled aloud.  
  
"Who the hell are you?" The woman asked looking Hawk over, sizing him up, she looked to be in her early twenties, short red hair, with slightly tanned skin, her face very nice, she had a small frame, was attractive. The woman wore a lab coat with her I.D. on her right pocket, Hawk looked oddly at her, he realized he was sweating a little and so was she, she also seemed to be a little edgy.  
  
"Hi?" Hawk said nervously trying to sound calm and cool, but he was positive his shaking would give him away.  
  
"Who are you?" She then asked, taking her goggles off with one hand holding the gun in the other.  
  
"I got lost…uh…I'm just gonna get out of here now."  
  
"Don't mess with me." She said trying to act tough but she still seemed to be trembling.  
  
"okay." Hawk said nervously thinking of what to do as he stood there with the gun pointed at him, "So how's it going?."  
  
"Shut up," The woman then ordered. "So who are you with, Nicholai's men?"  
  
"Who the hell is that?" Hawk then asked.  
  
"You're not a terrorist are you?" she then asked lowering her gun.  
  
Hawk breathed a sigh of relief as she seemed to lower the gun. "What makes you think I'm not one Nicholai's men?" he asked curiously.  
  
"Just your look, and the fact that you aren't armed."  
  
"Oh," Hawk said feeling a little stupid, "well then just who the hell are you, a hostage? Are there more?"  
  
"I'm no hostage, I'm one of the remaining scientist stationed at this base, name's Cynthia, Cynthia Williams." "How many others are there left?" Hawk then asked.  
  
"Just me and Rolland are free, the others are on the 7th floor.".  
  
" how many are there?" Hawk then asked.  
  
"Eight, myself included." "How did you and Rolland manage to get out of there?"  
  
"I escaped, Rolland was in on this plot, he is with them." "How did you escape?" Hawk asked puzzled.  
  
"Guards were way too loud, I could hear them down the hall so I hid."  
  
"Oh," Hawk said walking up to her, stopping a few feet in front, he then held out his hand, "Give me the gun." he then ordered.  
  
"Huh?" Cynthia asked skeptically.  
  
"You're to shaky, you pause, and you die." As Hawk said this, he was thinking about how he'd cope, he had yet to shoot an actual person, training dummies, and simulated figures was all he'd ever fired at.  
  
"Fine," The woman said giving him the gun, "I guess I can find somewhere to hold out at." "Good, remember to stay put," Hawk said as he then activated his link up.  
  
"What is it Hawk?" Todd asked.  
  
"I've found a scientist." "How is she?"  
  
"She's hot," Hawk then replied.  
  
"Hawk.." Todd sighed. "She's fine, I found her n the lab on the third floor." "Good, now see if you can get some information out of her." Todd said sounding a little upbeat  
  
"Yes sir." Hawk said ending transmission.  
  
Hawk then looked over Cynthia who seemed to be looking oddly at him.  
  
"Who is that?" She asked.  
  
Hawk hesitated a second but then nodded, "a friend," He then said, "Do you have any information that may be useful?"  
  
It was Cynthia's turn to hesitate now, she the shook her head.  
  
"Listen if you know anything you need to tell me." Hawk then said sensing she was hiding something.  
  
Cynthia paused and the mumbled "forgive me." under her breath, "Do you know of Project Y?" She then questioned. "Huh?" Hawk asked puzzled.  
  
"I'll take that as no." She then thought of whether to go on or not, but she knew that he'd want more so she had to. "Many believe this place to be a simple base made to conduct research, but in all actuality, it's a base that's been conducting experiments using biological weapons. One of those weapons just happens to be a virus capable of mutating anything it comes in contact with, the mutation usually ends up turning it's host into a mindless flesh eating zombie." "You can't be serious." Hawk then replied in disbelief.  
  
"Oh, I'm serious." Cynthia said her eyes locked on Hawk's.  
  
"Do you remember the Raccoon City incident?"  
  
"Yeah, an epidemic out of control riots broke out, the military closed the place off, and ended up spending three days getting people out. In the end they had to bomb the place to make sure what ever the hell was down there didn't spread outside the city." Hawk replied. "That's not the full story." Cynthia said, "Do you remember the stories after that?"  
  
Hawk then snickered at the thought, "Yeah, some of the weirdest things I've ever heard of." "The tabloids were the only people who got the story right, from the giant worm, to the flesh eating zombies, they were right on the money in almost everything they reported."   
  
Hawk then sighed, "what does Raccoon have to do with this?"  
  
"You idiot," Cynthia then moaned, you have to believe me when I say that the payload on this base could bring Hell on Earth literally." Cynthia went on, "The things you would have thought only capable in a horror movie would become reality. Just release this thing on one major city and the virus would spread like a wild fire, that's why Raccoon was bombed. Once the President found out that this thing could be crawling in the White Hours lawn in a number of weeks he ordered the city to be terminated. The epidemic was known as the 'T'-Virus, the sister Virus of 'Y', the virus that terrorist are threatening to unleash on the U.S. West Coast."  
  
"How does it work?" Hawk then asked.  
  
"I'm not sure, all I know for certain is that it mutates the cells, causes something in the brain, the host can no longer distinguish between friend nor foe, the become highly aggravated and as a result, they lash out at whoever or whatever is nearby. The body remains in work. It's not like the T-virus in a sense that the zombie effect doesn't occur."  
  
"Zombie effect?" Hawk then snickered, "are you serious?"  
  
"All you need do is look to the testimony of the Raccoon city surviors, they confirm it." "They were under a lot of stress." "Over 800 survivors claimed that they saw them."  
  
Hawk shook his head, "whatever, keep on going," Hawk then said.  
  
"That's it, that what is going on." "Why develop something like this?" Hawk then asked.  
  
"Well, if you remember we have the rising tensions down in the Middle East, and the threats of a nuclear attack and biological warfare are becoming even more rea, When the next war breaks out, the U.S. doesn't want its own men and women out there on the front lines, why not let the enemy kill themselves off."  
  
"So we did research on this, T-virus, and even keep a supply of it, and now the worst scenario possible has come true huh?" Hawk then sighed.  
  
"Sort of." She then said.  
  
"Sort of?"   
  
Cyntia paused, "when the virus was seen in action, the president, wanted the project ceased immediately."   
  
"Didn't like his pet project?" "He didn't know it was there until the outbreak occurred, it turns out only a sedlect few had given a company permission to develop a biological weapon for the armed forces. After the fiasco, there was increasing animosity between both the president and the U.S. branch Umbrellas company.' "Umbrella?" Hawk asked, "don't they make medicine?" "Yes, but that is now just a front."   
  
Hawk didn't like wha he was hearing this was some really awaward stuff going on. He didn't feel anymore comfortable when Cynthia continued on with "but it gets worse from there."  
  
"What do you mean?" Hawk asked not sure if he wanted to hear this.  
  
"This base is also the sight of the super solider product."   
  
"…I'm guessing that's bad." Hawk said a grim smile crossing his face.  
  
"As I mentioned the virus has the ability to mutate genes. In the event that ground forces would have to be used, it seemed like it would be good to do nothing more than just send down a handful of soldiers able to decimate entire armies, or take out what ever monstrosities the virus might create." "And then it was postponed?" "Yeah, Umbrella was forced to abandon it due to outside forces…and then the leader of the North American firm suffered a major heart attack, or at least that was what the Government wanted everyone to think." "What?"  
  
:"As I said, President Wilson didn't like the outbreak, and he vowed that whoever had led to the events that transpired that day would be hunted down."   
  
"So we just took on their information?"  
  
"I don't know, but from what I understand we lost a lot of information on the project and had to start from scratch." "So this is a prototype?"  
  
"No, there have been a few other versions." "where?"  
  
"Raccoon, and various other places."  
  
"What, so then that means they knew about everything that was going on in Raccoon before hand?" "except for the president, I've already told you, he was outraged."  
  
"That's why we sent in troops," Hawk then said.  
  
"Exactly, only a select few knew of the projects, unknown to the president, U.S. special forces were sent in to get Umbrella's data"  
  
Hawk wanted to know more, he did feel he wasn't told everything, but it was a lot more then he'd known at first. Hawk needed to start going he was wasting more time then necessary talking to her. "Listen," Hawk then spoke "I've wasted to much time talking I've gotta get moving," he then handed her a small radio, "I'll contact you when I need more information, but right now I've gotta go, times wasting, find a place to hide, and do it quickly, once you do, contact me, that way I don't have to worry about you." "Why not let me tag along?" Cynthia then asked.  
  
"You'll slow me down, I can't hold your hand the entire time, I need to concentrate." "Oh come on," Cynthia pleaded, "I know this place much better then you."  
  
"Exactly, I need you alive that way you can tell me where I need to go, you know what is around the corner, that's why I need you alive."  
  
Cynthia and Hawk looked directly at one another, the gazes locked on each other.  
  
"Fine," Cynthia then said reluctantly, "I'll find somewhere to hide," "Good," Hawk said, and then exited the room, carefully checking left and right to see if anyone might be around.  
  
When Hawk left Cynthia, whispered something under her breath, "Good luck, your gonna need it." She then took out a radio and switched it on.  
  
"What now?" A voice whispered over it.  
  
"We've got company." Cynthia replied.  
  
Next: Action starts, Hawk meets the first of the bad asses with mixed results. 


	2. Chapter 2

Todd sat back, he new the conversation they had had, he over heard the entire thing. The fact that they ahd that talk made him more than a bit edgy. Not because of what his reactions to the news might be. He knew Hawk would learn it all eventually. The fact was, he hated the memories he had of the city. That place was nothing more than a death trap. He'd lost a lost good men that day, and had almost been killed himself. He waited patiently, eventually the questions would come and he would answer them, truthfully, but only when he was ready.

"Todd!" Hawk then said at last.

The hall way wasn't to well lit; it was wide and stretched on a long way down. Hawk hid in the shadows in the corner. He was down in a crouching position his hand against his ear. 

"So you knew this?" Hawk whispered telling Todd what Cynthia had told him.

"Hawk believe me, I don't want to talk about it.." 

"But you knew?" Hawk then asked again.

"That's classified," Todd then snapped.

"Fuck it," Hawk then huffed, "Todd you're going to tel me eventually, understood?." Hawk said 

"Eventually."

He ended the conversation in time as two guards began their approach.

"So you hear about that scientist chick?" a voice then came echoing through the halls.. Like the typical guards, they each wore snow camouflage gear, and carried with them assault rifles. Each guard also had on a white balaclava and had two grenades with a few clips slung around their waist.

"Oh yeah, I saw her just the other day," The guard then said a bit of anger in his voice, "bitch tried to take a shot at me."  
"I would too, you have that effect on people." The other then said jokingly.

"That was funny." the first guard said sarcastically, followed by a sigh, "So, how much longer do you think this thing will take?" 

"Depends," the other guard replied and then looked his friend right in the eyes. "You getting scared?" he then asked.

"Hell no…it's just, well, you know, the boss."

"Oh, yeah, he seems a little out there."

"I been thinking, and you know what, I think he's the type who would bomb that place no matter what happens. "  


"What is going on here? " A gruff voice then cried down the hall. Hawk looked up ahead and saw a towering fellow then emerged, his muscles were big and well defined, his hair was jet black and in a crew cut, his skin pale, and he wore dark sunglasses, and while he wore almost the exact same gear as the other men, he wore a beret and carried with him an Ak-47 with him. 

"Sir, we were just discussing our current status." One of the guards then said scared half to death. 

"Well, get back to you post, we have an intruder, and we need to be on the look out.

"So, they're looking for me huh?" Hawk then whispered to himself. He watched the two guards begin to walk off, and then the superior officer called after them.  
"Also, be careful," he then spoke low, "She's a tough one."  
"She?" Hawk then asked confused. 

The two guards then saluted him once more and walked off.

Hawk watched as the commanding officer stood there for a few moments. After a while, he then started to walk off. Hawk was intrigued by his actions, it was almost as if he was trying to listen for some very faint sound. Hawk's heart then started to pound as he saw the man stop. The large officer began to sniff the air and all Hawk did was look on oddly, as the man turned around. Hawk could see the man, and he was sure that he was staring at him, Hawk's heart began to really pound against his chest now. The man started towards his direction, he then stopped ten feet away, and looked directly in that area, "You can come out now." He spoke, his tone firm and somewhat demanding. 

Hawk didn't move, instead he just stood still, he was scared he'd now been confronted and while he knew the logical choice, he wasn't able to move. Hawk wanted to take out his gun, and take a shot but if he missed it would be game over. 

As Hawk plotted what to do, the officer grew impatient and then rushed over. Fear seized Hawk and in an instant he watched as the officer extended his arm out for him. Before Hawk knew it, he was being thrown over the man's head. Hawk did manage to pull off a landing though, and then got into a fighting pose. He was a little shaken up and taken by surprise at the quickness and strength with which the officer moved. 

"You might as well surrender." The figure said, taking up his weapon.

Hawk instantly took out his gun too, and both men had their guns out.

"Just who are you anyway?" The man then asked, as he took another sniff of the air, you can't be her, he then said remorsefully, "And that's a pity, really it is." 

"Do I look like a woman?" Hawk asked.

"But of course," the soldier then replied.

Hawk was trying to keep the gun straight, yet he was trembling, the gun was shaking about, he wanted to fire, but couldn't bring himself to do it, instead he was scared, and he didn't know what to do.

"Are you shaking?" The man then grinned.

"Can't you see that?" Hawk then whispered to himself.

"I can't see it, so I'm guessing by the rate of your breathing and how heavily your doing it. You see, I may not be able to see but I can hear exceptionally well."

"Can't see?" Hawk then whispered surprised by what he'd just heard. "Wow," Hawk then started up, trying to mask the fear now. 

"Surprises you doesn't it?" The man asked, "allow me to introduce myself, my name is Gary Shaffer, a.k.a. Hunter."  
"We'll I guess youre lack of sight explains you choice of outfit, and the skin…and the hair.  
"Do you know who I am?" Hunter asked.

"Should I?" Hawk questioned and then it hit him. "Shaffer?" Hawk recognized the name yet he couldn't place it. "The war hero…" Hawk then whispered to himself finally remembering the name. 

"I'm no hero." He then growled, "I'm only a man doing what does best, killing."

Hawk could hear the pounding of footsteps behind him, and then heard a guard.

"Freeze" He demanded. Hawk could then see Hunter grin a little. "Turn around!" The guard then demanded. Hawk did as ordered. "Drop the gun!" the guard cried out as he continued on towards him. 

Hawk didn't move, he was frozen with fear and yet he knew he had to make a move. He was sweating heavily and all thoughts that he had at that moment lead to the same conclusion, "Game over." He said.

As the guard came within a few yards, he looked up at Hunter, "You idiot do something!" A voice then yelled out, taking the guard's attention away from Hawk. Hawk hesitated for a moment but then took the opportunity. In one swift motion Hawk dropped down to the floor and swooped up his gun. From there it all moved in slow motion. As Hawk pointed the gun up at the officer he could see the man's eyes widen as Hawk fired. Hawk then watched the man collapse and a pool of blood.

  
Hawk looked at the motionless body for a few seconds. That was the first man he'd ever killed. As Hawk had stared into his eyes seconds ago, he could feel quilt. Normally when he was nervous, there was a joke, or a snide comment. At that moment, he had nothing to say. As things returned to normal, he could hear a voice in the back of his head screaming for him to move. Hawk then rolled back onto one knee, aiming his gun directly at his enemy's head.

"You're better than I thought." Hunter grinned once more, "You can come out now Rachel. He's still alive." 

"Rachel?" Hawk then asked himself, and looked on, holding his gun at Hunter. He watched closely as the grin on Hunters face vanished, and he began to listen out for something. After a moment or two, Hawk could hear footsteps echoing through the halls, and then he could see a woman come sprinting from behind Hunter. Hunter whipped around and opened fire on the lady. Quickly the woman threw herself hard against the wall to avoid the shots, as they whizzed by. 

Hawk didn't know what was going on every thing happened so fast. A second later, Hawk was forced to dive to the left as Hunter fired back at him, and then dashed through, muttering something. Hawk took shots, but not one of them came close to striking him. Hawk then turned around and looked at the woman. 

The lady seemed slow getting up and Hawk saw the perfect opportunity. Hawk quickly rushed up to her "Freeze," he demanded, pointing his gun at her.

"You idiot," she then barked.

"Huh?" Hawk asked confused. 

"Do you really think I'm working with him?" She then asked, "He just tried to kill me."

Hawk didn't lower his aim; he kept his gun pointed down at her. She then slowly moved to scratch her shoulder. And then looked at him directly in the eyes. 

"Satisfied?" she then asked.

"Just who the hell are you?" Hawk asked sharply

"Name's Rachel," She said extending her hand.

"Rachel?" Hawk asked, not bothering to do it. Rachel was Asian, her hair a dull brown, her face looked a little rough with fatigue but she still seemed attractive. Her eyes were a dark brown, and her hair was rolled into a ponytail. Rachel had a nice figure too. What really surprised Hawk was that her outfit was eerily similar to his, only difference was she had an insignia, one that read "Savior"   
"Hey, you like what you see?" She asked noticing Hawk looking a little too hard. 

"Not my type, nice rack though," Hawk grinned..

"Asshole," she said a stone cold glare.   
"Why are you here?" Hawk then asked trying to stay focused.

"Well, if you want the truth I want to ask you the same thing." She then replied.

"What is going on here?" Hawk then asked a little surprised by what she just said.

The woman didn't go answer right away instead she looked at Hawk's hand, as they continued to shake.

"Never did this before have you?" She asked in with a smirk on her face. Hawk then tried to react but was to slow as she instantly pulled the gun away and aimed it at him. "You're way to slow." Hawk proceeded to put his hands up slowly, "Don't do that." She then said to his surprise, "I'm one of the good guys." She then handed Hawk his gun back, "Always be on your guard." She then added and pushed herself up. Hawk felt a tremendous amount of relief that she didn't pull the trigger. 

"I let you take it," he then announced.

"Is that so?"

"You know that guy?" Hawk asked hinging the subject..

"We've gone a few rounds." She replied.

"Who the hell is he."  
"Gary Shaffer, down in the Gulf War he lost his sight, he was one of the top officers at the time. He became a medical miracle that same year, amazingly enough, all his senses heightened dramatically. Unlike you or I, Shaffer only relies on his other four senses, his eyes can't play tricks on him, he's a lot more efficient than almost any other solider in the world, however there are exceptions though."

"Well thanks for the insight, now as I asked before, just what the hell are you doing here?"

"Business." She simply responded.

A voice that sounded like Cynthia then cut in on a radio. 

"What is it?" Rachel asked, looking up at Hawk.

"Hey, I've got a new update, it appears, that we may have a shorter time limit than we expected."

"What do you mean?" Rachel asked, a look of concern forming on her face.

"Well, the terrorist were originally stalling, they didn't know how long it would take to get those missiles ready to launch, but now they're ahead of schedule, you may lose at least one or two hours." 

"You can't be serious," Rachel replied shaking her head in disgust.

"Hey if you run into the company be sure to tell him that." Cynthia then added.

"No need to Rebecca, he's right here."

  
Hawk extended his hand out for the radio, but instead Rachel ended the conversation.

"Hey, I wanted to talk to her." Hawk said a little anger in his tone.

"Hold your horses." Rachel then replied calmly, "Listen, I know why you're hear, and judging by the conversation you know part of the reason I'm here."

"Are you suggesting I team up with you?" Hawk then asked.

Rachel was surprised, he jumped straight to the point, he wasn't as stupid as Rebecca had led her to believe. "Yeah, but only because of the news. I've got other agendas here, and I need to get those done. What I'm saying is that you take out those missiles, while I take care of business okay?"

Hawk hesitated for a second, she may not have shot him, but he didn't know her, didn't know whether he could trust her or not, Hawk thought for a moment and then ran his fingers through his hair.

"Fine, I'll do it, just where are the missiles?" Hawk said somewhat irritated yet also relived he wasn't on his own anymore. He wasn't going to tell her about the virus, that was his business. He was going to let her help him.

Hunter stood in silence after a brief explanation as to what had transpired nearly 20 minutes ago. With that a cynical grin crossed Nicholai's face.

"You're positive it was her?" He asked excited.

"Yes sir, I recognized the scent instantly."  
"This is better than I could have hoped for." 

"Sir, may I ask how much longer the preparations for the missile launch may take?"

"There has been a change of plans," Nicholai then wiped the grin off his face.

"What are they?"

"We're going to launch in four more hours, we'll be done sooner then expected."  
"Has Karl informed the boss, and the United States?"  
"He's informed the boss, but as for the U.S. his words were 'let them die.' So now he's become a liability, this could ruin all that we had originally planned." 

"So does that mean he may have to be taken out?"  
"Probably not now, but I do have one thing that I'd like you to do." Nicholai said, a grin once again forming.

"Here, if you need help finding the missiles, Cynthia will help you, she knows where you'd find the missiles." Rachel advised him, and offered a head set.

"Nah, I'm fine." Hawk declined, and watched as Rachel shrugged and put it on herself.

"I'll keep in touch." Rachel then said and left the area.

Right then Hawk tried to reach Cynthia. At first she wasn't there, and a feeling of dread came upon him. Hawk started off in the direction to get to her location but at the same time trying to contact her. As he came to the stairs, he finally got her.  
"Something wrong?" Hawk asked as trying not to sound concerned.  
"No, I had to go to the bathroom, is something up?"  
"Just where are the missiles?" Hawk then asked.  
"Scattered about, I'm not 100& sure, but I do know there is one on B2"  
"There's more then Ten stories?" Hawk asked. He'd checked over the blueprints time and again, and there was no data on either of those two floors.

"I would think the revelation of the missile on B2 would get that reaction."  
"Yeah I'm sure that's important, but my infor only tell me ten floors, I have no layout of those two."  
As though ignoring the statement, Cynthia went on ahead, "in order to get there though, you have to find a special key card, at least one guard is supposed to carry that type of card, or at least that is what one of them said."  
"Great," Hawk then murmured. 

"Hey, you'll do fine." Cynthia then said, "Just remember when you find a guard see if he's carrying a blue key card, that will be the one you're looking for."  
"Thanks." Hawk said.

"But when you get to B-1, don't worry about finding where the hell the elevator is, B-1 is just a large floor with nothing to offer, just a bunch of space no longer in use."  
"What was down there?" 

"Tyrant at one point, but then we moved it all up stairs."

Hawk then contacted Todd.

"What is it Hawk?" Todd asked.

"Tell the officials they've only got eight hours. I've just been informed by someone that that's as much time as they willing to give."  
"eight hours?" Todd sounded shocked, "Are you sure?" 

"Yeah, and speaking of which, are you sure this is a one man operation?" Hawk questioned his tone, calm yet stern.

"Yes as far I know you're the only one down there." Todd then stopped to take in the deadline change, "Hawk did they mention why the dead line had been moved up?

"No, only that in four hours they launch.

"Well then why hell did I run into some other agent?"  
"Another operative."  
"Yeah, that's what she claimed."  
"She?" 

"Yeah Todd, she. What should I do?"  
"Trust her, if you're not dead she must be keeping you alive for a reason, but do watch your back especially around her." Todd then paused, and it made Hawk a little uneasy.

"Sir?" Hawk asked.

"Hawk, we don't have time to talk get back to mission." With that Todd then ended transmission.

  
Hawk cussed lightly, and got a move on, time was running thin, if he didn't move fast, he'd be responsible for the deaths of millions, and he didn't want that, didn't need that

As Rachel came to the tiny office room, she instantly smiled when she found Rolland inside. 

"Trish?" he asked, as his eyes narrowed on the woman holding a gun at his head.   
"Yeah, it's me, how are you, life treating you good?" She asked as she moved inside, her eyes carefully looking over the room. Rolland's office was nice, small but nice. The floor was tiled green with rugs under the chairs, painting hung from the wall, along with degrees. She then looked at his desk, a Macintosh rested on top humming lightly, along with a couple of penholders jammed with pens. As Rachel continued to look over she could see pictures of Rolland too. 

"See anything you like?" he asked, his face showed that of a calm, and very strong man that appeared to be scared of nothing.

"Rolland you know what I want." She said lowering the gun.

"Why should I give you the disk, what have you done for me?" he asked curiously. 

Rachel then raised the weapon and fired off a round. She didn't worry about the noise there was a suppressor on it. "Next time, it goes through you brain," she then threatened.   
Rolland didn't move, didn't do anything but smile. Right then Rachel came at him throwing him hard against the wall. "Rolland, don't fuck with me, this isn't Raccoon, there is no Todd, nor some cop, or even Angel here to save you, now give me the damn files!"

Rolland's look had changed to that of fear, he nervously reached in his lab coat and took out a small circular disk. "Thanks babe." Rachel then set him down, and shot the phone on his desk. 

As soon as Rachel left, Rolland stop shaking, he then balled up his fist in anger, and desired nothing but to see her die at that moment. Shortly afterwards, Rolland watched as Nicholai strolled in. 

"Did you see her?" Rolland rushed up to him.

"See who?" Nicholai asked confused.

"Rachel you idiot." He spat.

"No," Nicholai became excited, "how long ago did she leave?" 

"About three minutes ago, now she has the files,"

"You gave them to her?" Nicholai's sly grin was lost replaced by a look of annoyance.

"Yes, and by standing there like a moron, you're giving her time to hide." When Rolland got that sentence out Nicholai instantly felt the urge to take out his gun and shot him right now, no one, but his superiors could talk to him like that, not some overweight coward who became terrified at the mere sight of a mouse.

"Fine," Nicholai said sternly, and turned around to ext "I'll find her, and you make sure to change you pants when I get back." Rolland heard Nicholai mutter something else but his voice was too low to understand what it was. 

Todd sat there in the tiny office, th receiver in one ear, laying back staring at the ceiling, a white glow on his face emitting from the computer in front of him. He was monitoring the conversation between Rachel now, Hawk was going about trying to flirt on the job. He smiled as he heard the remarks used. Rolland was still Rolland, and Rachel was still Rachel. Todd remembered how hard it was just to keep her from killing him through out that long horrible night in September. At the time, he was scared to death, keeping them quiet to avoid unnecessary contact with the enemy. As she pulled out of the room, he then came on.

"Why don't you just cut him some slack?"

"He needs to be brought back down to Earth once in a while." she then returned, "He's still alive right?"

"He's the exact opposite of Trevor." she then shifted gears.  
"Hawk, you can hardly tell their related." Todd agreed. Speaking of which, he had to get back with the young man. "Listen, Trevor is countin on you, don't let the kid die, alright."  
"You got it, how is Steph coming along?"  
"She's already started disarming the missiles." 

"Will she make it?"  
"She doen'st have much of a choice, according to her, they all think that Hawk is the one behind it all."

Rolland showed the gurds his pass, and then procedded in. He was still nervous by the sight of Rachel, she was the same person. Still speaking to her as though she were actually his equal. The bio lab was his sanctuary. What to him, made everything right. First of all, he smiled upon th sight in front of him. He eyed the Tyrant though its holding facility. The Tyrant featured superhuman strength, its skin was a very light gray, and its head completely bald, it was extremely muscular too. On the Tyrants right side, of the arm had a long claw protruding and while it didn't look nearly as fierce as the last few models it was probably the strongest Tyrant out there. Rolland smiled at his creation, he had to commend himself, and he'd done an excellent job. Rolland then heard the door to the lab slide open. Rolland turned around to see Nicholai.

"Did you find her?" Rolland asked still preoccupied with monitoring the Tyrant.

"No," Nicholai replied, "She's gone."  
Rolland then slammed down his pencil. "Jeez, Nicholai, can't you do anything right?" Rolland's voice began to rise, "every time I give you a simple task you always blunder it up, and I'm sick and tired." Rolland then walked over to a phone.

"What are you going to do?" Nicholai then grinned, and began slowly walking over to him, Rolland stopped and looked at Nicholai as he advanced towards him.

"What are up to? "Rolland asked nervously.

"Nothing," Nicholai then said, drawing his handgun.

Rolland instantly went weak in the knees, and stumbled over a chair, "N-Nicholai," He then said pleadingly, "You can't do this." Rolland continued to back up until he backed into a desk. His face went a very pale white, and he was scared half to death.

"Here." Nicholai then offered extending his hand to give him the gun, "Take it, it may come in handy."  


Nicholai cocked a half grin. Rolland feeling anger well up, straightened up and snatched the gun away, examining it closely, "You fucking moron, everything is a game to you isn't it?" Rolland then scolded him and turned around.

"How much more work needs to be done on the Tyrant?" Nicholai then asked the grin still there.

"Well I can tell you that it's not much longer, in fact, my work is basically done." 

Nicholai then grinned, and Rolland shook his head in disgust, "Now you've only got to wait until the machines do their work and then went you want to release it, just uh," He then walked over to a control panel and showed him a small blue button, "You need press this button." He then smiled at Nicholai, and at the same time the expression vanished. "Now get the hell out, you're distracting me." 

"So all I would need to do is press this button?" Nicholai asked.

Rolland then turned around with a look of impatience in his eyes, "Yes you mor--" Rolland's jaw dropped as he saw Nicholai with a gun directly in his face. Nicholai then grinned, "Thank you Rolland," he then squeezed the trigger before Rolland could bring his gun up. The frail body then fell to the ground a dead heap, Nicholai's face wore some of Rolland's blood. 

Nicholai then lifted up his radio, immediately. "It's Rolland," he said trying to sound somewhat shocked, "he snapped, and came after me, tried to shoot me, I-I had to take him down."

"Yes sir, will get some men down as soon as possible." Nicholai smiled at the corpse, the look of pure terror may have vanished, but he remembered it, savored it. He stared upon the body for several moments, only coming out of the stare as he could hear faint footsteps. He then turned and exited the room, as guards rushed in to find the dead body of Rolland.


End file.
